First of all, I'm not a fan of so-called "modern" rock.
So imagine my surprise to have actually enjoyed all 3 bands on this bill! The stars
aligned just right because that's exactly what happened. Pete Yorn opened the show
with a mumbled, low energy set that was saved by the quality of the songs. Pete seemed
like he had a bit of a sore throat as he did his best Springsteen for the new era schtick,
but he pulled it off. A mid-set cover of "Atlantic City" was not a surprise, but
the cool closer was a little more odd. Yorn ended with a song that David Bowie made
famous, "China Girl," but he did it more along the lines of Iggy Pop's original
version. Of course, he added a little more twang. It was quite convincing. The audience
responded best to Pete's hits "For Nancy" and "Life On A Chain," but
who would've expected less at a radio promo concert?

Between acts, the 99X DJ's were live on the air in a booth in the
first balcony being as smarmy and irritating as we all know them to be. Headliners LIT
stopped by for a chat during the first intermission and they were remarkably more amusing
than the announcers. After ten or so minutes, the band stood around signing autographs and
talking to overly excited fans.

Jimmy Eat World:

Jimmy Eat World

was the biggest surprise of the night for me. "Emo" as a genre is my
current most hated marketing scheme and these guys are right in "the middle" of
it (no pun intended and yet I got one anyway). However, their live show was more
reminiscent of '80s new wave and power pop (depending on whether the given song had the
girl playing keyboards and singing harmony or not).

On one hand, "Bleed American" was a hard rocker, while
"To Me This Is Heaven" was dynamic and moody in all the right ways. It just
proved that the band has more to offer than "Lucky Denver Mint" and current
audience favorite "The Middle." The band didn't have much stage presence, though
and after "Sweetness," the crowd's attention swept back up to the interview
booth.

This
time, Papa Roach showed up in the interview chairs. While they weren't on the bill
and didn't play, they were apparently in town mixing their new record with Brendan O'Brien
and couldn't resist the opportunity to come out and do some plugging. The vocalist
formerly known as Coby Dick (he now prefers Coby Jacoby) was sporting multi-colored hair
and seemed the polar opposite of his pained, violent stage persona. He actually seemed
like a cheerfully awkard adolescent who thinks he's witty. While his humor was juvenile,
it made him fit right in with the DJ's. The other members of Papa Roach mostly sat around
in silence, occasionally adding an aside. After their autograph signing, it was back to
the wings for them. Up on the stage, former Marvelous 3 front man Butch Walker arrived
with a hideous man in drag. While Butch promised a major label solo record coming soon,
the mustachioed queen threw Mardis Gras beads into the crowd. Then the drag-on mooned the
crowd (God, I wish I hadn't been up front for that) and picked up Butch in an attempt to
get the ex-Marv 3 member to show his "tits." As he lifted his shirt, beads
rained down on the stage from all corners of the audience and Butch got to the business at
hand by introducing the headliners.

LIT:

LIT

stormed
out on stage and delivered a full throttle, high energy set completely devoid of the
pretense of most modern acts. Opening with "Something To Someone," these guys
just wanted to rock. With the spirit of early Van Halen conjured, they ran through a
surprisingly potent mix of catchy songs from their three albums. Tossing
off arena rock moves like veterans of the hairspray and spandex wars, LIT was loud and
immensely fun to watch. The sing-a-long on "Miserable" was deafening. There was
something more than vaguely Cheap Trick-like in their musical delivery on songs like
"Lipstick And Bruises" and "Over My Head." Perhaps it was the mix of
humor, harmony and muscular heavy guitar that made me feel like they were going to bust
into "Dream Police" at any given moment. Who cares?

This was fun and I found myself re-living feelings that I had in my
early concert going days. Honestly, there's nothing modern about LIT. Seeing them live
proves that. The songs are more timeless and memorable than other bands of today. These
guys are just old-fashioned rock stars who happen to be around now. The amazing thing is
that people are responding positively. One feel of the shaking balcony during "My Own
Worst Enemy" can underline that for any non-believers.

After LIT, I figured I'd quit while ahead. Downstairs in the Cotton
Club, Default was starting to crank out their radio friendly sludge, but I
preferred to leave with the memory of the big arena rock, arms raised, amps to eleven,
ears ringing onslaught that I had just witnessed upstairs to keep me awake for the drive
home. From what I heard from outside, I made the right choice. (Chris
McKay/concertshots.com)